Pay-per-call database-queried communications services, better known in the United States as 900-number communications services, or pay per-call communications services, allow callers to get access to distinct or selective information that is typically unavailable to the general public. The sponsor of the 900-number service typically delivers the information requested by a caller via a Voice Response Unit (VRU) or a live attendant. While in the past, most of the information delivered via 900-number services was primarily entertainment-centric, recently 900-number services are increasingly being used to facilitate delivery of a wide spectrum of commercial information, such as software product support, high-level technical consulting services, credit verification, and employee dial-in conferences and training, to name a few.
In spite of these commercial developments, until recently, pay-per-call sponsors who use 900-number service as a vehicle for information delivery were dissatisfied with the inflexibility of the system. For example, a software engineer who is in the midst of providing consulting services regarding a software package cannot easily put a caller on hold to verify certain specifications regarding the software, since the caller would have to pay for "un-rendered" services while on hold. Similarly, the engineer could not transfer the call to another engineer who is an expert in a particular aspect of the software and therefore, commands higher fees for his or her consulting services.
In response to this problem, AT&T introduced the Sponsor Flexible Rating feature, also known as Vari-A-Bill feature, that allows a sponsor to change the rate at which a call is charged at any point during the call by sending a signal to the communications system of the carrier. In essence, the Vari-A-Bill feature sets forth a rating structure wherein a user can enter different rate codes for various situations. An illustrative rate code table is shown in FIG. 4. In the rate code table of FIG. 4 a code of "1" indicates that a new rate should apply to the call from the time the code is received by the switch. The new rate is a rate that is higher or lower than the preceding rate heretofore applied to the call. A code of "2" indicates that a flat rate should apply for the remaining time of the call. The code of "2" may also be used by a sponsor to sell products that are charged to a telephone bill as opposed to a credit card bill. A code of "3" signals that a pre-determined premium charge should be added to the fee charged for the call while a code of "4" is used to signal that a pre-determined amount should be deducted from the fee charged for the call. A premium charge is a positive rate that is applied to the call in addition to the preceding rate after the sponsor's signal is received by the communications system. Conversely, a premium credit is a negative rate that is applied to the call in addition to the preceding rate after the sponsor's signal is received by the communications system. Finally, a code of "9" negates all charges for the entire length of the call.
In practice, when a user enters the code for a different rate, such rate overrides the preceding rate for the remainder of the call or for the entire length of the call. This is accomplished by overwriting the preceding rate with the different rate in a sub-record created in the billing record also known as an Automatic Message Accounting (AMA) record.
In spite of these technical advances, however, prior art billing systems for 900-number transactions still lack the flexibility desired by pay-per-call sponsors. For example, the Vari-A-Bill feature allows a single rate change per call. Specifically, pay-per-call billing systems are still unable to generate a single bill to be tendered to a 900-number caller who wish to receive within a single call consulting services regarding multiple products. This is because the Vari-A-Bill feature allows a single sub-record to be created and thus prevents a sponsor to apply more than two rates within a single call. Hence, when a sponsor takes a caller off hold, the sponsor cannot resume the original rate for the call. Another shortcoming of prior art pay-per-call billing systems is their inability to generate an itemized bill for multiple transactions within a single call.
As a result of these deficiencies of the prior art, the pay-per-call communications service industry has been facing some stiff competition from service providers who prefer to use the Internet as a vehicle to deliver selective information. Thus, the pay-per-call communications service industry sorely needs a flexible billing system that permits processing of multiple transactions within a single call and is capable of generating itemized bills for such transactions.